Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun

Unbored is the guide and activity book every modern kid needs. Vibrantly designed, lavishly illustrated, brilliantly walking the line between cool and constructive, it's crammed with activities that are not only fun and doable but also designed to get kids engaged with the wider world.

With contributions from a diverse crowd of experts, the book provides kids with information to round out their worldview and inspire them to learn more. From how-tos on using the library or writing your representative to a graphic history of video games, the book isn't shy about teaching. Yet the bulk of the 350-page mega-resource presents hands-on activities that further the mission in a fun way, featuring the best of the old as well as the best of the new: classic science experiments, crafts and upcycling, board game hacking, code-cracking, geocaching, skateboard repair, yarn bombing, stop-action movie-making-plus tons of sidebars and extras, including trivia, best-of lists, and Q&As with leading thinkers whose culture-changing ideas are made accessible to kids for the first time.

Just as kids begin to disappear into their screens, here is a book that encourages them to use those tech skills to be creative, try new things, and change the world. And it encourages parents to participate. Unbored is exciting to read, easy to use, and appealing to young and old, girl and boy. Parents will be comforted by its anti-perfectionist spirit and humor. Kids will just think it's awesome.

Contributors include: Mark Frauenfelder of Make magazine; Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man; Douglas Rushkoff, renowned media theorist; Geoff Manaugh, author of Bldgblog; John Edgar Park, a CG supervisor at DisneyToon Studios; and Jean Railla, founder of GetCrafty.com and Etsy consultant.

"The first kids' book to truly encourage a hands-on approach to creating a personally meaningful life." Mark Frauenfelder, editor-in-chief of Make magazine, co-editor for BoingBoing

"This is what we've been waiting for! A playful and informative journey built on exhilarating activities and adventures. This is not just a book, it's a way of life for kids and parents alike." Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D., coauthor of The Art of Roughhousing

"What a treasure trove Glenn and Larsen have created! Parents, teachers, and anyone else who wants kids to have fun — and wants to have fun with kids — will love, love, love this book. Its an amazing resource. I can't recommend it more highly!" Edward Hallowell, M.D., coauthor of national bestseller Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction

"This year's hottest activity book for kids may well be Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun by Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen. Gathering contributions from the likes of media theorist David Rushkoff and GetCrafty.com founder Jean Railia, among many others, the 350-page book highlights science experiments, crafts and upcycling, board game hacking, and geocaching, and is packed with q&a's and trivia." Publishers Weekly

Joshua Glenn is cofounder of the websites Significant Objects, Hilobrow, and Semionaut, and has authored and edited a number of books. Together with Elizabeth Foy Larsen, he writes a parenting column based on Unbored for Slate. He lives in Boston and has two sons, ten and thirteen.

Elizabeth Foy Larsen was a member of the team that launched Sassy, a magazine for teen girls. Her writing on families has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, the Daily Beast, and elsewhere. She lives in Minneapolis and has two sons and a daughter, ages seven to twelve.

Tony Leone is a principal of Leone Design. His work has been honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Brand Design Association, and has been featured in Communication Arts, Print, Graphis, and elsewhere. He has a son in kindergarten and a newborn daughter.